NRDs hope to inspire young people to love & respect natural resources

As part of an effort to get Nebraska’s kids interested in the outdoors, the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts Foundation is hosting a 5K run, a one-mile walk and a “Kids Dash” on Saturday, April 1st, in Lincoln.

The association’s Erika Hill says the goals include raising money and awareness.

“One of the things that we do is, every single year, we pick a different location around the state and we host this 5K run to spread awareness about the foundation,” Hill says, “and ultimately, get people excited about our natural resources all across the state.”

All of the money raised at the event goes to the foundation, a non-profit group that gives money to youth programs which support natural resources learning and agriculture education.

One program the benefits is called the Envirothon and it targets high school students.

“They take a set of tests and all of those tests are outdoors and hands-on and related to learning about aquatics, about soils, wildlife, about policy in natural resources,” Hill says, “everything you can think of to get these kids excited and maybe even thinking about a career in the outdoors.”